Venus Williams awarded wild card for Western & Southern Open

Venus Williams was awarded a wild card for the 2023 Western & Southern Open.

Williams lost her opening match at Wimbledon, where the seven-time Grand Slam champion entered as a wild card but lost momentum when she slid to her back at the net and tweaked her knee before losing to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the opening round.

The 43-year-old Williams has 49 career singles titles.

Play begins Aug. 15 on the hard courts at the Western & Southern Open with five current or former World No. 1-ranked women, including Williams, in the field. Last year, she lost in straight sets in the opening round to Karolina Pliskova, another former No. 1.

Williams received a wild-card entry to next week's Canadian Open in Montreal.